Festival No. 6 2016

dbnAudile supply lighting and sound to the unique Festival Number 6 in Wales

Whether you want to explore the main festival site, take a trip to the famous village green or even get lost in an enchanting wooded realm; there are not many places like N°6. Set in the idyllic village of Portmeirion, which straddles the estuary of the River Dwyryd, the annual music, poetry and cultural gathering offers festivals-goers a chance to lose a sense of mundane reality and discover various untrodden paths.

Rob Ashworth, one of the directors of dbnAudile, has been with N°6 since its inception and knows the site better than most.

In 2016, along with a 31-strong team of crewmembers, dbnAudile supplied sound and lighting for the main stage, as well as several other stages. We also supplied all the decorative site lighting, working with creative designers Decordia, as well as sound and lighting for the Boutique Camping areas.

"This year saw quite a few changes across the site. The lighting and sound systems received notable upgrades to add to the creative production."

Rob Ashworth, dbnAudile

For the main stage, dbnAudile supplied a complete d&b audiotechnik system comprising of 16 J8’s, four J12’s and 12 J-SUBs all controlled by an Avid Profile. Monitor control came courtesy of a Yamaha PM5D-RH digital mixing console.

For lighting, an Avolites Pearl Expert Titan was used to control a rig of 18 Clay Paky Mythos and 12 Sharpys along with 18 Robe Robin 600’s and 12 Robin 100’s.

For effects, dbnAudile deployed 11 Clay Paky Stormy CC strobes as well as six James Thomas Engineering 4-lite molefays and 18 2-lite molefays.

Ashworth and the dbnAudile team are no strangers to extreme conditions and were more than prepared for everything the weather could throw at them. Wind is always the major concern in terms of exposed equipment with significant surface area, so wind management plans lay out actions that must take place when wind speeds exceed defined thresholds.

“In this particular case, wind speeds on Friday and Saturday were forecast to exceed the threshold for safely suspending large speaker arrays, so we lowered them until the point where we could safely raise the hangs again.”

Rob Ashworth, dbnAudile

In terms of production, it was certainly a challenging year. It’s unfortunate the conditions overshadowed some parts of the event, but it was still a wonderful weekend for everyone involved.

“It’s such a unique festival, with a brilliantly eclectic line-up, in a magical location. The festival goes from strength to strength every year, and I have great expectations for 2017!”